What is the most promising Alternative Fuel?

Question

Of cource alternative to oil

Answer 1

Probably coal converted to liquid in the short term (Fischer-Tropsch process is very nasty and should not be considered, we'd want to use something better).

Don't expect a significant reduction in transportation CO2 releases from that but it will at least stop the need to get oil from the middle east and might also give the coal industry a reason to stop opposing nuclear power (since they'd actually need to have an on site reactor to provide the energy for the conversion).

Done well coal to liquid could produce very clean fuels with about the same CO2 emissions as oil, done badly it could be a lot worse.

Biofuels which a lot of people without a clue seem to think are an answer have the problem that corn, etc would be better used as food rather than put in the tank of an SUV so they'll only ever make sense as niche fuels (made from the waste that humans wouldn't eat or feed to animals) and electricity has range limitations and charging time issues that will probably put some people off (although I'd expect it to become a major 'fuel' for those who only drive short distances and a big supplement for longer ranged cars).

Solar and wind are too hopeless to be major players in anything other than off the grid power systems and are not going to be powering your everyday car, directly or indirectly to any significant extent. Uranium probably will provide a lot of the power but it will be indirect in most cases (i.e. the energy from nuclear fission will be used to make other fuels that are more convenient for transportation use) but large ships will probably end up being nuclear powered (as a lot of military ships and icebreakers already are).

Hydrogen is promising and may be the long term answer but it does have certain handling problems that we'll have to be mindful of (they're things that can probably be dealt with though) and also requires energy to make.

Summary:
Short term will be a switch to coal to liquid but not the Fischer-Tropsch process with electricity being a supplement or taking over in smaller cars. The electricity will mostly be nuclear.
Ships will move towards nuclear power when the carbon taxes make it economical to do so.
Longer term is anyone's guess, we may find something better than anything we have now or we might continue with coal to liquid and just start removing some of the CO2 already in the atmosphere.

Answer 2

Right now the best looking alternative fuel is Bio-diesel.

Ethanol has too many problems, the least of which is the amount of energy it take to make it. I’ve heard they crossed the break even point, and even heard 5x returns. But every time I check it out, they are using the waste corn and counting that toward the returns, ignoring that fact that the corn itself had more energy when they started then when they finished. Ethanol is also hard to transport, it like to absorb water and water won’t burn.

Back in the 70’s when there was a fuel shortage, the government sponsored research into alternative fuels. They found a form of algae that was 50% oil, they found they could easily covert that oil into bio-diesel with a chemical process. But the energy crisis ended and so did the funding, the cost per gallon was higher then diesel so it just went away. But with the price of diesel going up they are many people looking at the process again and you might be seeing bio-diesel from algae soon.



http://www.unh.edu/p2/biodiesel/article_alge.html
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0605/S00030.htm

Answer 3

Combusting a midget of average body mass index, when coupled to a K-MAC Industries K-1000 Midget generator, will release enough energy to light a home for about 15 minutes. With the use of an accelerant I hope to extend this to 20 minutes. I know you will all be excited about this research as it serves to both raise the average population height and exploit a renewable, and otherwise useless, resource at the same time.

Answer 4

Ethanol, a clean-burning fuel. Researchers are working on technology to convert cellulose plant fiber to ethanol. That means waste paper, wood, grass, leaves, and crop residue such as corn stalks and husks can become important sources of energy. This would benefit the economy of the USA by reducing our dependence on foreign oil and by stimulating the energy sector of the economy, which would include not just ethanol production but also manufacturing and exporting the technology and equipment to produce ethanol.

To the Idiot who gave thumbs down to every answer that didn't say solar and wind:

Ethanol IS solar power. The energy to grow plants which are fermented to make ethanol comes from the sun. The fermentible biomass consists of carbohydrates which are made by combining carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with water, releasing oxygen into the atmosphere. The carbon dioxide produced when the ethanol is burned as fuel is recycled back into plants grown to make more ethanol. The ethanol production and combustion cycle produces zero net carbon dioxide.

Answer 5

http://first-molecule.com Alternative energy company . There being sold in eBay the price for a dealership is going up . money back guaranty plus pay pale guaranty's your money back . I know I'm going to get thumbs down every time i mention this believe what you want to believe but when im sitting on the beach in the Bahamas supping on a cold margarita don't say i didn't tell you so. Look under hydrogen in eBay

Answer 6

Whether or not it is the most promising alternative fuel, hydrogen will be the alternative fuel of the future.
Once we find/engineer a microorganism that produces more units of hydrogen per unit of substrate, it is likely that it will be utilized as transportation fuels, while ethanol is utilized for small, portable spark ignited engines.
most people don't know it, but finding a more efficient microorganism to produce hydrogen, is one of the biggest things going on in the fermentation industry, currently.

Answer 7

i think the most promising over the next 10 years will be the hybrids gas and electric but other then gas i would have to say ethanol and bio diesel will be on top for a while until the car companies really start looking into and building solo electric cars

Answer 8

Glucose

Answer 9

Oh please (to all previous answers).

Its uranium. Those aren't smokestacks, they're cooling towers.

Would it be too much to expect todays Live Earth concerts to casually mention that solar power shuts down at sunset each and every day, like clockwork?

Answer 10

You have a problem with the reducing of CO2. If u eliminate all CO2 the plants will die and we will too.